by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: December 03, 2010   Last Updated: November 14, 2011

We all have a gift or two sitting tucked away still in the box which it arrived in. You know that you are never go to make use of that gift. You don't need it, you don't like it, and you don't want to keep it.

You don't want to leave these gifts packed forever away in your closet, but you certainly don't want to trash them either, so when is it acceptable to re-gift them? It certainly seems logical in this situation to re-gift these inappropriate gifts to someone who may enjoy them more than you do.

Generally re-gifting an item is a perfectly acceptable way to dispose of an unwanted gift. It is an environmentally friendly way to insure that an item which you cannot use is put to good use. It also saves you the cost of having to purchase a gift for this person. There are many positive reasons to re-gift.

There is really only one reason why most people do not re-gift. Not wanting to hurt the feelings of the person who gave you the inappropriate gift in the first place is the main factor which holds most people back from re-gifting. If you are absolutely unable to tell the giver that their gift is something which you absolutely cannot make use of, but you still want to re-gift the item, then simply keep a few re-gifting tips in mind.

You want to decrease the likelihood of your re-gifting offending the original giver of the gift, as well as, the new receiver of it. If it is someone related to you who gave you this ill suited gift in the first place then never re-gift to another relative. If you received the gift from a co-worker then never re-gift it to another business associate. Whenever there is a likelihood of the original giver seeing their gift being given to another, or used by another person, then this is not the situation to re-gift in.

Keep in mind who the person was that gave you the gift in the first place. Never re-gift to other individuals who that person associates with on a regular basis. Any situation in which there is a likelihood of this gift becoming a reminder of where it came from is a situation where it is inappropriate to re-gift.

Keeping a small note book of your gifts received and who you received them from is always a good idea. It reminds you to send a thank you card out to the person who showed you the kindness of a gift, but it also reminds you which people sent  you the gifts, which you are about to re-gift.

Be absolutely sure that all previous gift tags, and personal notes, are removed before re-gifting the item. It is usually

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